BCCI mulls tender for new IPL franchise after Diwali

BCCI was already mulling adding new two franchises to the highly lucrative Indian Premier League

After a successful 13th edition of the Indian Premier League, the Board of Cricket Control in India, the BCCI, is mulling tender for a new franchise in the tournament after the Diwali weekend, according to a Times of India report.

The media had reported earlier that the governing body was mulling the addition of two new teams in the highly lucrative league. In the coming three days, the governing council will decide on the tender for the new franchise(s).

"The tender is most likely to come after Diwali, once a decision is taken in this regard. And regardless of whether it's one franchise or two, if new teams come in then a mega auction cannot be avoided," sources told TOI.

However, adding one or two teams to the tournament creates various challenges for the management as the upcoming edition, 14th in 2021, will be held in the early summer of next year. Adding new teams would call for a mega auction, which may require more preparatory time.

Adding just one team will take the total number of matches to 67 and another team will stretch the tournament to 90 matches, under the current format where each team plays the other 7 twice.

As for the revenue, current system is likely to continue till 2023, according to the TOI, and the new additions will be part of that same revenue pool.

For the media and broadcasters, industry sources prefer that BCCI announce the tender after the media rights with Star end in 2022. Digital players like Facebook and Amazon are also eyeing the tournament.

"The BCCI will come up with a media rights tender towards the end of 2021. Star's five-year IPL deal will end with the 2022 season and the board will look to maximise its broadcast revenue," sources said.

"BCCI should ideally bring out a tender for new franchises after the media rights tender because they'll get a higher value. In the middle of this pandemic, it's always a risky proposition," the added.

The tournament, valued at US$6 billion by Duff & Phelps, has caught attention of big-wigs in the country who would like to add an IPL team into their basket.

According to several reports, the Adani Group, the Tatas and the RPG-Sanjiv Goenka Group interested in the franchise in IPL. Others include banker Uday Kotak and media entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala.

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end on Tuesday with Mumbai Indians emerging victorious for the fifth time, becoming the most successful team in the history of the league by some distance.